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I hear whispers that we’re all being played like a Stradivarius. That a certain scam publisher I could name (but don’t need to) is sending her sock puppets out to whip us all up into a frenzy and keep us talking about her so that she can play victim (yet again). She wants her name on our tongues at this difficult time so that she can shriek in horror how heartless we are to be picking on her when she’s got a family member that’s so horribly ill.

Never mind that when I lost a family member, she whooped it up, saying that it was Karma, that I brought it on myself, even that she arranged for it by siccing her voodoo practitioner on me. She can torture me with bullshit during my time of grief, but heaven forbid any of us should unveil the truth about her.

Make no mistake, she’s not posting under her own name, but she’s still lighting my stat tracker up like a freaking Christmas tree. She’s not sobbing at the bedside of somebody she’s already written off as dead. She’s still trolling, still looking for ways to put her own spin on anything she can and try to cover up what a monumental failure her latest scheme is, and it’s not even out of the gate. Her actions are as obvious as ever, and her priorities are obviously not where they should be. As usual.

Still. I’m not comfortable being played. I’ve spoken to her mother, and she’s a sweet, sweet person. Out of respect for her, I’m laying off. The scams and frauds aren’t going anywhere. They’ll still be scamming people and finding new and creative ways to fuck up. There will always be time later to point out their ongoing illegalities.

What matters right now is that there’s somebody that’s gravely ill that might not pull through. Let’s all respect that.

Tab and her cronies have gotten so much shit stirred up with their gossip and vitriol, throwing around accusations, half-truths, and innuendo everywhere from their stupid little hate blog to my paragon of truth and virtuosity and all the ground in-between. They’re doing what they do, and they’re in danger of succeeding. If they get people upset and defensive, they’ve accomplished their goal.

Wouldn’t it be a victory for them if they got tongues wagging and people so worked up into a lather that the only thing on anybody’s mind today is Tab? Wouldn’t she just cackle her ass off if she thought she was getting inside people’s heads?

Don’t give them the satisfaction.

She’s just an attention whore, trolling around the underbelly of the internet, playing her bullshit little head-games. She dips her finger in and stirs shit, doing anything she can think of to keep the spotlight on herself and attention away from the fact that she’s busted wide open on what a scam and fraud her latest business move is, and it’s not even out of the gate yet.

Nothing would make her happier than to get tongues wagging and rip Kinship apart from the inside out by getting the owners and authors fighting with each other.

My advice to everyone involved: Ignore her bitter, jealous ass. If you’re spending your day defending yourself against her irrelevant bullshit, getting upset about her lies or letting her get inside our head, you’re not doing what’s really important. Spend your time writing, working, succeeding where she only knows how to fail.

Don’t sweat the small shit. And, despite all evidence to the contrary, she is small. Insignificant, and absolutely irrelevant. And she knows it. That’s why she tries so hard to rip everybody else down. Because the only way she can be on their level is to drag them down to hers.

Rise above it. YOU are the Phoenix, rising from the ashes of her shit company. fly high, my friends.

Ah, I see why Tab’s been trolling around here so hard. She’s waiting for us to comment on her *big* announcement from last night. All things being equal, I wouldn’t bother. We already blew the lid off her little secret, HOURS before she announced it. No news about it.

But I will comment, because of the sheer folly of her justification. She says:

She ran out of room trying to hide from all of the evidence against her, so Tabetha decided to do what she does best: She called years of proof from her victims “Slander” “Hate” and “Lies” and says that’s the reason she’s switching over to Dark Storm. Because of me. Her authors deserve better, she says. And she’s right. They do deserve better. They deserve better than her. IF she’s got any real authors left that aren’t figments of her imagination, she might have them fooled for the moment. But it won’t take long for them to see the light. The fact that she’s trying so hard to hide it only proves everything we’ve been saying here about her the whole time. Look at her, trying so hard to hide, because of the reputation she’s earned for herself within the publishing world.

Slander, is it? Then why haven’t any of us been sued? She threatened to sue Emily Suess for printing the truth about her in the first place, thanks to the first brave author that spoke out publicly about being scammed by Tabetha Jones. She threatened to sue Janrae Frank for the same thing – and then Janrae’s family, when dear Cussedness passed away. And she’s threatened many times to sue me for giving her victims a forum where they can tell the horror stories of being swindled by Tabetha Jones. Not one of us has ever seen a single shred of paperwork to that effect. The reason? Because it’s NOT SLANDER IF IT’S TRUE. And it is. Every single word. Tabetha Jones is a shady character. Anybody that publishes through her is going to regret it because they’re going to discover that they’ve been lied to.

Hell, she’s lying to them already. Right out in the public for the world to see.

I don’t know who she thinks she’s fooling. We all know that She’s running the show at Dark Storm. Whether it’s Katrina’s face or Salena Sablan’s that she uses on the sites, it’s Tabetha through and through. The first time a new author calls to talk to “Destiny” and finds Tabetha on the other end of the line, they’ll realize that she’s shady, through and through.

Salena, hon, if you’re on board to become the new (co)owner of a publishing company that involves Tabetha Jones, I can only tell you: “DON’T DO IT!”

I know you’ve been told not to read this blog beause it’s all “Hate” and “Lies” but you really, REALLY need to do yourself a favor and start from the beginning and work your way up to the present.

Starting with Zephyr (media/ enterprizes/publication/whateverthehellitwas), she gains ownership of a company (translate: she starts it under some fake name), takes on a partner that she promises the moon to, scams people until she can’t get away with it anymore, then throws the partner under the bus for it. Just ask Brandy and Wendy. After Zephyr folded, Tab “Took over” ownership of this new publishing company called Mystic Press, co owned by Brandy and Wendy. She, Tabetha, scammed people left and right (many of them are here on this blog) including my daughter. Within days of being reported to the Tx Attorney General, Tab ran screaming that Brandy and Wendy had screwed the company up so much she had to close the doors. She never did, really, she just changed the names on the accounts from Mystic Press to Phoenix Fire, “rising from the ashes” blah, blah.

To be clear, Tab did finally pay Thea back, but only because Somebody found out that Tab used her name to swindle my kid and shit was about to hit the fan. Tab paid, begging me to take down that post. And I did, as agreed, until she (Tab) made two very stupid mistakes. She kept right on scamming people, and she directly disrespected me. Add both of those to scamming my kid in the first place, and this blog keeps on going. People deserve to know what a fraud and scam artist she is.

Over the course of the past few years, she’s taken on other co-owners to try and pin it on when Phoenix folds. There was her ex, Eric, who had the good sense to dump her skanky ass. And there were Jacqueline and Jaimie, and maybe others along the way. But they each caught wise and removed themselves from an executive position in the company. It bears mentioning that she set up this same EXACT scheme with Jacqueline last year, making it look like some mysterious third party was taking over Phoenix Fire, exactly the same way she’s doing it with you, promising to Keep Tabetha on “as the face of the company.” Jackie caught wind that she was being played, so she backed out. Tab even tried switching the name of the company to Silver Fang, a name Jackie had picked out for her own publishing company, without telling her. “It was supposed to be a surprise,” Tab says. Right.

Tabetha also tried to tell people that Jabberwocky publishing agency was taking on all of her authors in some great big deal She might have conned them into believing it, too, if not for a call to the real Jabberwocky.

Tabetha’s been DESPERATE to find some way to unload Phoenix Fire so that she can start a new company to scam new people with. Tabetha’s reputation with Phoenix Fire in the publishing world is too well known. She’s written up on Predators and Editors, Writer beware and Absolute Write water cooler as a publisher to avoid. And there are blogs detailing her sleazy tactics. Not just this one, mind. There’s the dear late Cussedness Corner, Emily Suess and others. All these people can’t be haters. Especially when most of them don’t even know who the hell she is. All they know is what she does to her authors, as testified to by the authors themselves. And they can’t all be haters, either. They’re all people that are stepping forward, bravely admitting what’s happened to them so that others don’t fall victim, too. Like you.

Tabetha likes to play the victim, doesn’t she? The victim of such horrible domestic abuse at the hands of every guy she ever dated/married. Including one she’s taken back into her bed. She says she’s the victim of stalkers, haters, liars and trolls But think about it. Which is more likely? That she’s really the poor, put-upon victim of all these people’s unjustified persecution? Or that she’s trying to paint a sympathetic picture of herself to get out of all the crap she’s done to people? Think, man. THINK.

You’ve known Tabetha, what? A few months? And you’re ready to put your name, your reputation and your financial future in her hands? We’ve known her a hell of a lot longer than that. Trust me when I tell you that each and every person that posts here isn’t hatin’ on her. They’re people she’s scammed, swindled and flat-out ripped off. Including past partners and co-owners. Do yourself a favor and listen to them. She’s using you. Plain and simple.

The truth of the matter is that all this exposure is making it harder and harder to lure in new victims.

She needs a new company with a new name that people haven’t heard of yet.

If you provide that means for her, I guarantee you she’ll leave you holding the bag when it goes sour. It’s what she does. Just look at the history.

Just ask yourself some questions:
How legal is the company that she’s cajoling you into creating for this sneaky little endeavor?

Are your taxation papers in order?

What about the legal structure? Is that sound? Not dissin ya, but do you know the first thing about running a publishing company? Was this even your idea? Or something she snuck in your ear, promising to “mentor” you in the publishing business? Hate to tell ya, hon, but the only thing she’s setting you up for is to be her patsy so that she can finally, FINALLY shut down Phoenix Fire and get that albatross out from around her neck. Or, switch the accounts. Which is illegal, btw. A company doesn’t “switch over” accounts when it closes. When a legal entity closes, all of its accounts are terminated and liquidated appropriately. That’s business 101. If she’s not doing that, you need to be very, VERY wary of how she does business.

Has she, at any point, used the words “Trust me” or “I’ll take care of it”? Because if she has, that’s your first hint to run as far away as you can, as fast as your legs can carry you.

On the new Dark Storm Publications webpage, you’re currently listed as the sole owner. But are you really piloting the ship? Are you the one updating the webpage? Or is she telling you to trust her to do it for you? Cuz, I gotta tell the site reads like a carbon copy of her PF site, complete with her usual literary skill.

The page isn’t even up and running yet, with no authors listed (give her time, she’ll make up plenty), but it sure leans heavily on those anthologies, doesn’t it? Typical Tabetha stock in trade. That’s where she’ll rob you blind, make no mistake. Submitting a ton of stories under fake names so that she can keep a bunch of pieces of that pie. Has she turned you on to that trick yet? Is that really the publisher you want to be? Is that the PERSON you want to be?

What’s in it for her? Think about that. What’s she getting out of it? I’m guessing that since Dark Storm is a company created on the fly last week, you don’t have the money to actually be buying her out. She’s just switching accounts over, right? So what’s REALLY in it for her?

What’s your name on? What’s her name on? If her name is on accounts, it’s because she plans to skim them. If your name’s on them, it’s so that she can blame YOU for embezzling money from her authors’ royalties.

Last but not least, why all the fake names? If her business were on the up-and-up, why does she need so many names? Different names to own a business, different names to write under, it’s shady enough that she does it, but now she’s got you doing it, too. What’s the excuse she gave you? Because of stalkers? Bullshit. A LEGITIMATE business doesn’t have anything to hide. Blog exposure or no, a REAL business just goes about its, well, business with nothing to hide, nothing to worry about, and nothing to cover up. You’re starting business with her under very shady circumstances. If you’re Destiny, she’s already got you posting lies to the public. You’re starting off on the wrong foot. Honestly, how can it go right from there?

There’s enough in this post alone to make any reasonably intelligent person stop and think. And you strike me as a pretty smart cookie. But do yourself a favor and scroll back and read for yourself, in her own words, what a shady character she is.

Oh lookie.
Anybody remember the name Alex? Back when Tab was pretending to be La Bare strippers here on this very blog? For those of you that weren’t around at the time, Tab pretended to be her favorite stripper, Draven, jumping on the blog to defend his (girl)friend and buddy, Tab. The real guy was less than happy to hear about it.

Yeah. Busted.

During that impersonation, s/he threw the name Alex around as the owner of the club with ties to the Russian mafia, trying to intimidate us, giving us an email (Russianbear) and DARING us to contact him.
You can read those posts HERE and HERE.

And here’s that name again.

Alex is also one of the fake names she assigned to he sister’s fake online girlfriend, Sky(lier) Wicker(son). But since we all know the latter doesn’t exist, I’m wondering if she’s hinting that the big sale she’s hinting at is coming from the owner of the club that Tab has glorified in her delusional erotic fantasies since she was old enough to sneak in and stalk the poor guys that work there. Draven, particularly. And the names Gill and Destiny? At least one of those sounds like a stripper to me. Anybody know if those are dancers at the club?

It’s one of two things.
Either the poor sap really is buying into her company, or she’s using his name, yet again, to further her own agenda.

I doubt it’s the former. Those people are sick to death of hearing about her shady ass. Last year when she tried to publish her fictional “memoirs” based on her imaginary experiences there (including graphic tales of sex with her beloved Draven, which never happened. Just ask the guy), she was forbidden from publishing by the owners of the club. SHE said she had the club’s full cooperation and support. The club owners curtly replied differently. She doesn’t have permission to write about the club. Nobody does.
If that’s what she’s hinting at, does she really expect folks to believe that the same people are now in negotiations to buy into her company? Really?

I think it’s far more likely an example of the latter. I think she’s using people’s names again, to create a scenario whereby she has somebody to blame for it when the deal goes bad and her company goes under. Their fault, of course. Then she’ll be able to start up whatever new publishing company she plans to use to publish scam new authors with.

She’s really trying to work it, isn’t she? She’s DESPERATE to find a way to dump Phoenix and all the baggage that goes with it. Just look at her, trying to resurrect the same exact “investor” scheme she tried to pull last year. And the nonexistent deal with Jabberwocky where she told all her authors that the agency was going to pick up the whole company.

Sooner or later, she’ll find some poor sucker to pawn the blame off on, and try to create some new publishing company to further her scams. And we’ll be right there to shine a light on it so that no new people have to fall victim like so many people here have. It’s scam artists like her that give indie publishing such a bad name.

Yesterday, I wondered in a comment what a certain scam publisher would be up to that she feels the need to misdirect our attention by winding Little Nikita up on the end of a string and setting him off to spin. And I have a few thoughts about that.

First and foremost, I have to think that she’s up to something regarding PF. She’s been stuck with that albatross hung around her neck for the longest. The average shelf life for a publishing company with her is two years. It’s been longer than that since she changed the accounts over from Mystic Press to Phoenix Fire. I don’t say “since she closed Mystic Press” because she didn’t. She, herself, has admitted that all she did was change the name on the accounts. Illegal much?

She’s TRIED a couple of times to change it again, but we’ve caught her and she had to back off. First, it was some “investor” that was arranging to buy the company and keep her on “as the face of the company.” Remember that? We nailed her to the wall with the details, and she was forced to back off that ruse.

Then she tried to switch over to Silver Fang, but we tripped her up on that, too. And Jacqueline was smart enough to get away from her, so she lost that stool pigeon, too. She didn’t have a partner to blame for the company’s demise any more. What’s a scam artist to do?

Enter two new people.

First, there was little Nicky. The two of them were all set to team up on some shady project. But that fell through. They couldn’t settle on the details. Translate that to mean that he wanted to do things legally and she is simply unable. Even his psychotic ass can see through her illegal bullshit.

Then, most recently, comes her first ex husband. I can only imagine how that came about. Never mind that he’s got a wife and kids. Here comes his ex, dressing modestly for the first time in, like, ever, playing the little woman and mother of the year. Being the slutty whore in the bedroom and pretending to be the perfect little woman out of it. Whispering sweet nothings into his brain and promising him the moon. He leaves his wife and kids, moves in with Tab and settles down with his new happy little family.

I speculated that the objective was to get a house out of him, then stick him for the tab by painting him as the abuser all over again. Then she gets to keep the house and make him pay for it. Not a bad scheme, if she can pull it off.

But consider who we’re talking about, here. It’s entirely possible that her scheme is broader than that. What if she got him to sign on as her new partner? THEN she can paint him as the abuser again. What a perfect scenario for her! She can not only blame the demise of her company on him, but she gets to be the ultimate victim, too. “I trusted him with my heart and my business, and he shattered both!” Just imagine the flood of sympathy she’d get! She could ride that wave of sympathy and support through the next two years of whatever she calls the next company, plucking the heart strings of her victims with her sob story.

I can see it, already. And the sad thing is, it’ll probably work. Most of her victims are good people who want to believe the best in people. The good-hearted kind of people that would go to the wire supporting a friend. The kind that believes their boss lady who “busts her ass” to “make their dreams come true.” And how dare all these former victims of hers attack her with their “hate” and “lies”? Don’t they know what she’s been through? What a brave survivor she is, standing tall and reaching for her dreams.

Hang on a sec. I’ve got to go take a Dramamine.

Even if the new/ex gets wise and dumps her flabby ass to the curb, she’s still got Nikita she can try to sucker into being her patsy. Hell, she might even try to “sell” her company to him and blame HIM for it when it folds. Wouldn’t be the first time she tried to pass the company off in some bogus sale, would it?

She says that Phoenix is doing just fine, thanks. But we all know better, don’t we? She’s not only looking for ways to ditch it, she’s DESPERATE to. With a new company, she can sucker more people. With the current one, all people need to do is Google her and find out what she’s up to. At least with a new company, under a new name (Zoey? Emerald?), she can scam people, at least for a little while before she switches it up again.

She’s got something going on. No doubt about it. If she’s got to resort to setting Niky off like a whirling dervish for the misdirection, I guarantee you, she’s poised to pull something.

Get your popcorn ready, boys and girls. I have a feeling something’s about to hit the fan.